Etymologically
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eternal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪˈtɜː.nl̩/ (UK); /ɪˈtɝ.nl̩/, /iˈtɝ.nl̩/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French eternal, eternel,[2][3][4] or directly Late Latin aeternālis,[3][2] from Latin aeternus (“lasting, everlasting”), a contraction of aeviternus, of great age,[3][2][4] from aevum, age (see age),[2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *aiw- (“vital force, life; eternity”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lasting for ever: about 1380, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Since Middle English it has been used both of things without beginning or end and of things that have a beginning but no end.[3][6] A parallel Middle English eterne came directly from Latin aeternus through Old French.[3] The Eternal, as a name of God, is attested from the 1580s.[3][7] Pertaining to eternal things, having eternal consequences, is from 1605.[6] Seemingly endless, occurring again and again, is a weakened sense.[7][8] In dialect from Ireland to Cornwall it was used to express extreme dislike.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – everlasting.[2]
  • c. 1385 – eternally.[2]
  • 1580s – the Eternal, God.[3]
  • 1605 – having eternal consequences.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Without beginning or end; lasting for ever.
  2. Unchanged by time; always true: eternal truths.
  3. Seemingly endless; constantly repeated: eternal bickering.
  4. Of or relating to life with God, especially after death.

Noun

  1. (the Eternal) God.

Word family

  • eternality
  • eternally
  • eternalness
  • eternalize
  • noneternal
  • coeternal
  • eternity
  • age
  • aeon
  • sempiternal

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)